US Open 2023: American Teenager Coco Gauff Comes From Set Down To Clinch Maiden Grand Slam Title

Add as a preferred source on Google

New York, September 10: American teenager Coco Gauff's day of destiny arrived on Saturday (September 9) as she came from a set down to beat Belarusian second seed Aryna Sabalenka in the US Open 2023 women's singles final to claim her maiden grand slam title.

With 2-6 6-3 6-2 victory in an hour and 26 minutes over the soon to be world number 1 Sabalenka in front of the noisy crowd at the Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York, Gauff also became the first American since Sloane Stephens in 2017 to win at her home major.

The 19-year-old also became the first American teenager to triumph at Flushing Meadows since Serena Williams and the 10th teenager to win the US Open women's title all-time. Serena had won as a 17-year-old in 1999.

Gauff joins Williamsn, Tracy Austin, Stefanie Graf, Monica Seles, Martina Hingis, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Maria Sharapova, Bianca Andreescu and Emma Raducanu in New York's under-20 roll of honor.

Williams' final farewell to tennis at the same championships last year left a colossal void in tennis in the US. So it felt only natural that Gauff, the heir apparent to the 23-time grand slam winner, stepped into her shoes 12 months later.

Sabalenka will be the new world number one on Monday (September 11) after a remarkably consistent year in which she won the Australian Open and reached the semi-finals in Paris and at Wimbledon.

But that will be scant consolation for the 25-year-old from Belarus after she put herself in position to win her second grand slam title, only to fold as Gauff claimed her first, thrilling a raucous crowd with a memorable victory.

"I feel like I'm a little bit in shock in this moment," Gauff, who lost in her only previous major final appearance last year at Roland Garros, said after the match.

"That French Open loss was a heartbreak for me, but I realize that God puts you through tribulations and trials, and that makes this moment even sweeter than I could've imagined. I just knew that if I didn't give it my all, I had no shot at winning."